Malachi: I Love & Don't Change

So often we can doubt God's love or take it for granted. God is love. All that God says and does is in love, and He does not change. Do we embrace God's definition of love or do we try to change it? God tells us clearly through Malachi, I Love & Don't Change. #malachi #2020

Starter

What tends to make you cry? Why?
Who are your most intimate relationships? Why?

Pray

Lord we pray that you would teach us about your love and would we believe you over our feelings and opinions, not doubt that you are love, and not take you for granted. May we embrace your definition of love knowing that you say, I love & Don't Change. Help us to see For what reason we were created and live out our lives.

Study Questions

"For What Reason?"

The book of Malachi reads like a text or social media conversation. As we continue our study of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, God's people have seen God continue to love them, discipline them, and explain to them clearly who He is. Yet, His people keep asking questions of Him as if they believe they have done nothing wrong. In Malachi's day, even though God's people were in slavery, God blessed His people to return to the land and city of His promise. He used pagan Kings to bless Ezra's rebuilding of the temple and Nehemiah's rebuilding of the walls. Living in this time period it would have been easy to ask, For what reason?

READ Malachi 2:11-12, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

1. What was the treacherous an detestable thing God asked Malachi call out Judah (The southern Kingdom of Israel) for doing? What thing did God ask Paul to specifically call out the church in Corinth for doing?
1. What were God followers supposed to be doing while they waited on God to deliver them? (Jeremiah 29:4-19, 23) How is this still directly applicable to us today?
1. Why was marriage such a huge deal to God throughout the scriptures and especially during captivity? (Deuteronomy 7:1-5)

READ Malachi 2:13-14, 2 Corinthians 7:8-11

1. We know that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We know that it is by grace through faith in Jesus and not by our works that we are saved and serve (Ephesians 2:8-10). So, it is not our past sin that defines us but our current condition in grace. Adultery, divorce, and even murder are not unforgivable sins, but they do often carry earthly consequences. In light of this, why wouldn't God receive an offering from these emotional worshiping believers?
1. What was the response of God's people in Malachi to God not accepting their offerings?
1. In Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth, he had to say some harsh things he didn't want to have to say especially about relationships and marriage. How does Paul's second letter help us to see the proper response to God His followers should have?
1. How does Paul's excitement help us to see God's excitement when we respond to Him?
1. What might embracing these verses look like for believers today in the messiness and brokenness of emotions and relationships?